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25/05/2017

This is one of the most easiest dishes we've made, super easy to swap ingredients or even add more! Throw in some chilli, add that kick, heck even add more cheese on top.

These are seriously the messiest things we've eaten too, not very good for someone like James to have (he's just naturally messy to be honest) so have some wipes on hand and enjoy!

Makes: 6 | Prep Time: 5 mins | Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

- 1 tbsp vegetable oil

- 1 onion, finely chopped

- 2 small red peppers or yellow peppers, finely chopped (50p)

- 2 garlic cloves, crushed

- 400g minced beef (£1.69)

- 2 x 400ml cans chopped tomatoes (68p)

- 2 tbsp chipotle or smoky barbecue sauce

- 4 cheese slices (£1)

- 6 burger buns (65p)

- crispy onions, to serve

- iceberg lettuce, to serve

Total: £4.52

Instructions:

1. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan, then fry the onion, pepper and garlic for 8-10 mins until softened. Add the mince, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as you go, and stir until it browns all over. Tip in the tomatoes and chipotle, or barbecue sauce, and add a little seasoning. Simmer for 10-15 mins until the sauce has thickened.

2. Put the cheese slices on top of the mince and cover with a lid for 2 mins to let it melt into the sauce. Pile into the buns with the crispy onions, and lettuce on the side for scooping up the extra sauce.

22/05/2017

We are back with a small Hello Fresh series (I guess) as you may know, we had purchased and tested the Hello Fresh boxes previously, and although they are great, they were a tad bit too pricey for us, but when they came back to us with their new prices, we decided to give them another shot.

As well as their new prices, they have changed their packaging for easier access and understanding, bigger and better instruction cards, so far so good.

All ingredients listed were included and instructions are their own.

This was the longest recipe out of our weekly box, but it was so worth the wait, not exactly your traditional pie but tasted just as good and those roasted carrots really complimented the dish together!

Makes: 2 | Prep Time: 10 mins | Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

- 1 red potato

- 2 chicken breasts

- 1/4 brunch tarragon

- Chicken stock

- 1/2 tsp dried thyme

- 250g carrots

- 1 garlic clove

- 1/2 leek

- 250g button mushrooms

- 1 pot creme fraiche

- Bay leaves

- 1 tsp honey

Instructions:

1. Reheat your oven to 200 degrees and put a Large Saucepan of water with a pinch of salt on to boil for the potatoes. Chop the red potato (no need to peel!) into 2cm chunks and add to your pan of boiling water. Simmer until soft, 15-20 mins.TIP: The potato is cooked when you can easily slip a knife through. Drain the potato and return to the pan. Mash with a pinch of salt, a grind of black pepper and a knob of butter (if you have some). Then cover and set aside.

2. While the potato cooks, peel and grate the garlic (or use a garlic press). Chop the chicken into 2cm pieces. Heat a splash of oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken with a pinch of salt and a grind of black pepper. Fry until nicely browned on the outside, about 10 mins. Add the garlic. Cook for 1 minute more, then pop the chicken in an ovenproof dish. Wipe the pan clean - we'll use it again later!

3. While the chicken is cooking, remove the root and dark green top from the leek and slice into 1cm thick rounds. Pick the tarragon leaves from their stalks and roughly chop (discard the stalks). Halve the button mushrooms.

4. Put the (now empty) frying pan on a medium heat and add a splash of oil. Cook the mushrooms until browned, 4-5 mins. Add the leek. Cook until softened, another 5-6 mins. Stir in the tarragon, chicken stock pot, crème fraîche, dried thyme and bay leaf. Bring to the boil then put the mixture in your ovenproof dish with the chicken.

5. Cut the carrots in half lengthways (no need to peel). Place them on a baking tray with a drizzle of olive oil and the honey. Toss to coat evenly and season with salt and black pepper. Pop on the middle shelf of your oven. Cook for 25-30 mins.

6. Meanwhile, cover the chicken mixture with the mashed potato. Top with a drizzle of olive oil, a pinch of salt and a grind of black pepper. Pop the pie on the top shelf of your oven. Bake until golden, 20-25 mins. Serve the pie with a good helping of honey glazed carrots and ENJOY!

18/05/2017

We are back with a small Hello Fresh series (I guess) as you may know, we had purchased and tested the Hello Fresh boxes previously, and although they are great, they were a tad bit too pricey for us, but when they came back to us with their new prices, we decided to give them another shot.

As well as their new prices, they have changed their packaging for easier access and understanding, bigger and better instruction cards, so far so good.

All ingredients listed were included and instructions are their own.

We both love prawns and chorizo but we've never thought to add them together in a dish before and we are approving these flavours together! We will most definitely be keeping this recipe in mind to tweak and make our own!

Makes: 2 | Prep Time: 10 mins | Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

- 2 garlic cloves

-120g tiger prawns

- 200g spaghetti

- 1 pack chorzio

- Bunch flat leaf parsley

- 2 vine tomatoes

- 1/4 tsp chilli flakes

- 1 can tomato passata

Instructions:1. Put a Large Saucepan of water with a pinch of salt on to boil for the pasta. Peel and grate the garlic (or use a garlic press). Pick the parsley leaves from their stalks and finely chop (discard the stalks). Chop the prawns into small 1cm chunks and the vine tomato into 2cm cubes.

2. Cook the spaghetti in your pan of boiling water for 11 mins or until ‘al dente’. TIP: ‘Al dente’ simply means the pasta is cooked through but has a tiny bit of firmness left in the middle. When you drain the pasta, keep a little of the water in case you need it to loosen the sauce.

3. Meanwhile, heat a little olive oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat. Add the garlic and chilli flakes. Cook for 30 seconds. TIP: Some like it hot but if you don't that's fine, just go easy on the chilli flakes!

4. Add the chorizo to the pan. Cook for 2 mins. Then add the prawns. Cook for a further 2 mins.

5. Tip in the passata. Let the mixture simmer on medium heat for 5 mins. Add the fresh tomato. Cook for another minute. Season with a pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper. TIP: The prawns are cooked when pink on the outside and opaque all the way through

6. Drain the pasta in a colander then tip it into the pan with the sauce. TIP: If the sauce is too thick at this point, loosen it up with a splash of the pasta water. Sprinkle over the parsley and toss everything together. Divide between bowls and ENJOY!Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | BlogLovin'

15/05/2017

We are back with a small Hello Fresh series (I guess) as you may know, we had purchased and tested the Hello Fresh boxes previously, and although they are great, they were a tad bit too pricey for us, but when they came back to us with their new prices, we decided to give them another shot.

As well as their new prices, they have changed their packaging for easier access and understanding, bigger and better instruction cards, so far so good.

All ingredients listed were included and instructions are their own.

We don't make enough beef dishes as we'd like to, so this was a good one, anything to be marinated is a good sign to us! Also, brown rice is never usually on our radar but it should be!

Makes: 2 | Prep Time: 5 mins | Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

- 175g brown basmati rice

- 2 garlic cloves

- 1/2 tsp ginger

- 2 spring onion

- 1 bok choy

- 3 tbsp soy sauce

- 1 1/2 tbsp honey

- 250g flank steak

- 15g sesame seeds

Instructions:

1. Put a Large Saucepan of water with a pinch of salt on to boil for the rice. Rinse the brown rice thoroughly under cold running water then add to your pan of boiling water. Cook on high heat for 25 mins. Drain, cover with a lid (or plate) and keep to one side.

2. Peel and grate the garlic (or use a garlic press). Peel the ginger using the edge of a teaspoon and finely chop (or grate). Remove the root from the spring onion and finely slice, separating the white and green parts. Remove the root from the bok choy, then slice thinly widthways.

3. In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce with the honey, half the garlic, the ginger and the whites parts of the spring onion. This is the teriyaki marinade! Cut the steak into thin strips and soak in the marinade for as long as possible.

4. Heat a splash of oil in a frying pan on high heat. Add the steak and fry until browned then remove from the pan and set aside on a plate. TIP: Leave the excess marinade in the bowl while you brown the steak in batches. Once all the steak is cooked and removed from the pan, cook the marinade for 1-2 mins. Then add the steak back in and remove from the heat.

5. In a separate frying pan, heat a splash of oil over medium heat. Add the remaining garlic and cook until it just starts to change colour. Add the bok choy with a pinch of salt. Cook for 2-3 mins. Add the drained rice, a grind of black pepper and mix. Cook until it’s heated through.

6. Serve the garlicky bok choy and rice topped with the teriyaki beef. Sprinkle over the green parts of the spring onion and the sesame seeds and ENJOY!

13/05/2017

Two weeks ago, over the Bank Holiday weekend, I, Jessica, was inspired to make an effort, to get up early and make super pretty breakfasts for James and I, and what better inspiration is there than the Symmetry Breakfast cookbook that we received from The Happy Foodie Event where we actually met Micheal himself and got him to sign our very own copy (happy bunny I am)

James has attempted to create one of the recipes before, but it didn't turn out as pretty,so that had never made the cut, and it had been too long since we've had this book, it was time to make most of this cookbook. So here it is, a little photo diary of what we made.Saturday: Cornflake French Toast

Sunday: Breakfast in Bread

Monday: Baked Eggs in Greens

We are planning to create more of these recipes in the near future and hopefully be able to create more photo diaries for you to be inspired as Micheal has inspired us!

If you don't own his cookbook already, then you're seriously missing out and you should go be inspired and purchase your copy now!

11/05/2017

When you're having a cosy night in and you just want to throw some things together and make a very hearty meal, then this is the dish for you! Spice it up with some chilli flakes or make it completely veggie and take out the chicken, or alternatively throw in some tofu instead.

Really easy, really quick with most things found in your kitchen already!

1. Heat a splash of oil in a large frying pan and tip in the beaten eggs. Swirl the pan to coat in a thin layer of egg and cook for a few mins until set. Tip onto a chopping board, roll up, slice thinly and set aside.

2. Heat a little more oil, add the stir-fry veg, curry powder and sweetcorn. Cook for 1-2 mins until the veg starts to wilt, then tip into a bowl. Add the last of the oil to the pan, tip in the rice and chicken, mix well, then add the soy sauce, sweet chilli, ketchup, a splash of water and some black pepper.

3. Finally, add the eggs and the veg, toss together and heat through until hot. Tip into bowls and serve immediately.

08/05/2017

In need for a quick and tasty spring/summer meal? Post gym meal? Look no further, this salad is super quick, full in protein and could be light or as heavy as you'd want it!

Serves: 4 | Prep Time: 10 mins | Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients:

- 300g baby potato, halved (89p)

- 175g green beans, trimmed and halved (£1)

- 160g can tuna in water, drained (£1)

- Good handful of rocket (£1)

- Salad dressing (£1.05)

Total: £4.94

Instructions:

1. Put the potatoes in a pan of boiling water, then boil for 6-8 mins until almost tender. Add beans, then cook for a further 5 mins until everything is cooked.Drain potatoes well, toss with half of the dressing, then leave to cool.

2. Flake the tuna, then fold into the potatoes. Add the remaining dressing. then gently toss. Divide between bowls and serve each portion with a handful of rocket on top. Serve warm or cold.

06/05/2017

Last weekend, Bank Holiday Monday, we attended the Foodies Festival in Brighton, as many of you may already know, we had won these tickets with Jess and Josh Cook, so a big thank you them for picking us as winners.

We have attended the Foodies Festival once before in one of their London events last year, also winning tickets with Food Festival Finder, which you can read all about here.

This year, we have been blessed with the opportunity to work with Foodies Festival and we have begun our first collaboration with them with a quick giveaway for them for the Brighton Festival, and in return we had been complimented with upgraded tickets to VIP.

What does the VIP ticket include, you ask?

Well the VIP ticket gives your access to your very own seating space, along with the other VIP ticket holders, you receive a complimentary glass of bubbly, reserved front row seating in your choice of masterclasses and goodies bags to take home (which we forgot actually)

Once we got our complimentary glass of bubbly, we went took on the challenge to find our way around the whole festival before carefully choosing our destination, without a doubt we got called in by the olive samples, free desserts and tasters all around.

It didn't take us long to figure out what we wanted, James went for the same stand he went to last year, the BBQ stand where we had this beauty of a manwhich, as I, Jessica, opted for some soul and got the curry goat with a kick of spice.

Both seriously delicious and full of flavour, and very filling, which we were both satisfied but disappointing, as we felt we couldn't eat anymore. Obviously that didn't last very long as (did you see our first photo) we fell in love with the giant doughnuts and desserts on that beautiful table, so well priced, we were in heaven.

To take a break from eating before we fell into a food coma, we had previously booked ourselves to see the cakes and desserts masterclass to watch a fellow foodie baker, Baker On Board, who we follow on twitter, so it was really nice to meet and support him on his debut.

John had made his famous California Carrot Cake, proudly baked and decorated live on stage right in front of us. He was a serious natural and we hope to see more of his work in the near future, so please do check him out and his new website.

When the masterclass had ended, it began to drizzle, so we thought it was time to head back home, but luckily I saw Drink Me Chai Latte, as last year I wanted to purchase some but didn't have the chance, so I opted for buying an actual made drink to warm us up and one of their popular favours, Mango.

While drinking and the rain stopped, we then went back around to see the stalls and hat they had to offer and I am so glad we did, as we came across one of the stands we went to last year, Carrington's Chilichup and I honestly fell in love with their sauce that I just had to purchase another but we upped our chilli level. On top of that, I must have given away so much excitement that he had given us a complimentary product we have yet to try.

Thank you to Jess and Josh Cook and Foodies Festival for a great day, we look forward to working with Foodies Festival again for the 3 London locations, so look out for those in the near future.

04/05/2017

We both love a good fish pie but we've never thought to make one before. How could we ever live up to such a great dish, so we thought we'd try and create a very simplified version of a fish pie; one that doesn't take too long and one that definitely does not break the bank.

1. Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C /gas 7. Tip the spinach into a colander sitting in the sink and tip the potatoes into a saucepan. Bring a kettle full of water to the boil and pour enough over the potatoes to cover and slowly pour the rest over the spinach to wilt it. Bring the potatoes to the boil and cook for 8-10 mins until tender, then drain and roughly mash.

2. Leave the spinach to cool, then squeeze out excess water with your hands. Scatter the spinach over the bottom of 2 individual or 1 small ovenproof dish leaving two gaps for the eggs. Crack the eggs into the gaps, then season with salt and pepper. Distribute the fish over the spinach and eggs. Spread over the crème fraîche and drizzle with the lemon juice. Loosely spoon over the potatoes, drizzle over the olive oil, then bake for 20-25 mins until the top is crispy and golden and the sauce is bubbling at the sides. Leave to stand for a few mins, then serve straight from the dish.

01/05/2017

How could you say no to this colourful dish? It's just so perfect for those spring/summer days, something healthy but full of flavour and choice, protein and all - also perfect for those post gym sessions (you know with summer coming and all)

We actually have made something really really similar on the blog last year, but this time we've added some cous cous for a bit of change.

Serves: 2 | Prep Time: 10 mins | Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

- 2 pork loin steak (£1.80)- 150g cous cous (70p)

- 1 bag of mixed salad (89p)

- 2 hard-boiled eggs, halved

- 1 avocado, sliced (£1)

- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved (79p)

- Hand full of croutons (50p)- 1 lemon, to squeezeTotal: £5.68

Instructions:

1. Salt and pepper the steak on both sides, being sure to rub in the seasoning (we added some garlic and mixed herbs too)

2. Heat the oil in a pan over high heat until slightly smoking. Meanwhile, boil some water in a pan and make your cous cous as instructed on the packet.

3. Sear the steak for about 2 minutes per side, then rest it on a cutting board for 10 minutes and slice the steak.

4. In your serving bowl, combined your salad and cous cous with a squeeze of lemon.5. Add your eggs, avocados, croutons and tomatoes, then place your steak on top and add the dressing as you wish.